VIDEO: 2013 Florida Legislature Recap

Ron Sachs of Sachs Media Group is providing a series of interviews with newsmakers in Tallahassee in a partnership with the Florida Press Association.

In this week's videotaped interview, the heads of two of the state capital’s leading news organizations sit down with Ron Sachs to recap the just-ended 2013 session of the Florida Legislature. The review features David Royse, executive editor of the News Service of Florida, and Mary Ellen Klas, the Miami Herald’s capital bureau chief.

The session ended without lawmakers agreeing on a plan to expand health insurance coverage under the federal law commonly referred to as Obamacare. Democrats are pressuring Gov. Rick Scott to call a special session to end the impasse, and Royse says the Governor may need to oblige. “I think there is a very good chance they (Legislature) will be back here in the fall. There is $50 billion from Washington on the table, and they’re going to hear a lot about it.”

Klas says Scott’s session victories, including securing pay increases for teachers, might boost what’s expected to be a tough re-election battle. “He eliminated some of the opposition against him. He tried to inoculate the teachers who campaigned against him, and I think he’s worked toward the middle. I think that is what’s going to help him,” Klas tells Sachs. In their conversation Royse, Klas and Sachs discuss the Legislature’s swift ban on Internet cafés, elections and ethics reform, and more on “Florida NewsMakers.”

Last modified: May 13, 2013
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